In Defense of Short Selling
Doug Kass gives us this morning’s must read slice of market history: "Short-selling runs deep in financial history. Perhaps...
Open Thread: Bad Sign on Fannie & Freddie Comes True
Last month, Rex Nutting had a surefire contrary indicator: He noted that the Bush administration DOES NOT expect the GSEs to fail, and...
Paulson Playing Chicken With Markets: Guess Who Will Win? (GSE...
Guest post today, by Yves Smith of naked capitalism: James Carville, Clinton strategist, said, I used to think if there was...
OPEC vs US Gross Personal Tax Reciepts
This is a first: OPEC is pulling in more money from oil sales than the U.S. government is raising from individual taxpayers. > click...
Fannie and Freddie: Worth Negative $50 Billion Each
Fascinating piece in Barron’s this week on our favorite junk paper: Phoney and Fraudy. A few interesting factoids about the GSEs,...
Down 97%: Tax Trouble Coming For States & Cities
Here’s something you may not have considered: The massive losses taken by Wall Street Banks and Brokers is going to wipe out their...
No Shorting. That’s the Rule.
A long/short hedge fund manager of my acquaintance went to short some Morgan Stanley (MS) via a B/D that clears through Wachovia: The...
No Recession? No Inflation? Don’t Make Me Laugh!
The anticipated bear market bounce in Financials has led to the usual fools’ chorus that the worst is behind us, the economy is on...
WSJ: States Slammed by Tax Shortfalls
Nice interactive chart on the Beige Book accompanies this realistic article on the precarious conditions of State finances: "The...